Charleston heroin and meth dealer sentenced to eight years in Federal prison

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that Brian Keith Dunnigan, 46, of Charleston, West Virginia, was sentenced today in federal court in Charleston to eight years in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of methamphetamine. Dunnigan had previously pleaded guilty to the federal drug charge in September of 2015.

Dunnigan admitted that on April 8, 2015, he spoke with Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team officers and gave them permission to search the residence where he was staying at 924 Orchard Street in Charleston. Officers recovered over 100 grams of methamphetamine, over 50 grams of heroin, and over $2,500 in cash from the residence. Dunnigan admitted that the drugs and cash were his, and that for approximately two months he had been receiving heroin and methamphetamine from a source in Ohio and distributing the drugs in Kanawha County.

Dunnigan also admitted that on May 6, 2015, he was present in a house in Charleston where Charleston Police Department officers were executing a search warrant. On that day, officers found Dunnigan with a loaded Titan Tiger .38 caliber revolver. Dunnigan was prohibited from possessing any firearm under federal law because he had previously been convicted of two felonies, conspiracy to distribute crack and being a felon in possession of a firearm, in federal court in the Southern District of West Virginia.

The investigation was conducted by the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team, the Charleston Police Department, and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Haley Bunn handled the prosecution.

This case was prosecuted as part of an ongoing effort led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia to combat illegal drugs in our communities, including the illicit sale and misuse of prescription drugs and heroin. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, joined by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, is committed to aggressively pursuing and shutting down illegal pill trafficking, eliminating open air drug markets, and curtailing the spread of opiate painkillers and other drugs in communities across the Southern District. This case was also brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. Project Safe Neighborhoods is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in the United States by networking existing local programs targeting gun crime.